Chapter Text
Starscream could feel an ebbing pain in his wing, but whatever Hook had given him, it was working well as he could barely feel the fresh welded marks on his arm and leg. He and his trine were back in their shared quarters recovering from the skirmish. Starscream was on his back, stretched out over most of the berth. Skywarp was sitting up by his head, digits feeling over his non-injured wing. Thundercracker was at the end of the berth, datapad at hand.
“A few of the squads are grounded,” He was going over the reports of the fight, “Minor injuries. We’ll have to reorganize flight paths and scout teams”
“That’s boring,” Skywarp protested.
“It’s needed and we are in charge of it,” Thundercracker argued. “Star, please back me up.”
“Mphf,” was Starscream's only answer, before shifting around, “Make Soundwave do it.”
Skywarp chuckled, careful to not jolt the trineleader, “I need whatever Hook gave you. Better yet, give you more if you’re gonna agree with me.”
Starscream made a face, wanting to argue but couldn’t find the strength to do so. Thundercracker set aside the datapad to move closer to them, putting Starscream’s legs in his lap.
“So,” Skywarp grinned, running one digit along a seam on Starscream’s wing that made him squirm, “Tell us about Megatron.”
“No,” Starscream muttered, trying to move away.
“His servos were all over you!” Skywarp’s grin widened.
“Do you think he knew what he was doing?” Thundercracker added in, referring to Megatron.
“No way. Nothing is going on in that helm,” Skywarp snickered.
“Empty-headed,” Starscream echoed, sounding amused, “Small processor.”
“That’s right,” Skywarp patted his leader’s wing, “A very handsome empty-headed helm.”
That got Starscream to nod, but he couldn’t fully focus on the conversation while the two were pressed nicely against him. He would never admit out loud that he enjoyed these moments, Skywarp would tease endlessly and he’d get nothing done. A tap on his thigh made Starscream refocus, sending an accusatory look toward Thundercracker.
“C’mon Star, Hook told us to keep you awake until your wing heals a bit more.”
“I’m not falling into recharge,” Starscream mumbled, Thundercracker didn’t believe him.
“Then keep talking about Megatron,” Skywarp added, “we need a plan to get that dumb aft to recognize what we’re doing.”
“Maybe we should figure out what he considers a courtship,” Thundercracker said. Starscream suddenly shot up, or tried to, as both seekers quickly grabbed and wrangled him down.
“That… bucket head,” Starscream slurred, trying to snarl but failing, “needs to figure out himself!”
“We’ve tried everything,” Skywarp whined, “I even offered to help clean his plating! I want to touch him!”
Thundercracker made a face, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“He didn’t get our subtlety, so I decided to be direct,” Skywarp defended.
Starscream made a noise, trying to sit up again but gave up when Skywarp wouldn’t let him. “Empty-headed.” It was his only added comment. Skywarp snorted.
“You’re empty-headed right now.”
“You’re,” Starscream began, but no other words followed as he pointed accusingly at him.
“Let him rest Warp,” Thundercracker said, “no point in working him up. He’s gonna break a weld.”
“You hear that Star?” Skywarp patted his wing again, “The level-headed one needs you to rest."
Starscream settled back, grumbling a little more. Satisfied that he wasn’t going to move, Thundercracker reached for the datapad, opening it to begin making notes on the upcoming flight plans.